KickStarter Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones - a Lovecraftian Computer RPG

[CthuluIsSpy]

- It is very jank. Like, super jank. If you don't have V-sync on your GPU heats up to 70 degrees, which for a 2d game is just ridiculous.

Unity.

Eh I dislike unity but lets be real here, the presentation is just shit

Awkward perspective, clipart characters and dogshit animation give Stygian that early-2000 flash game feel. The game just feels and looks like absolute shit regardless of engine

Yeah, sometimes its hard to click on stuff because of how the game is laid out. Its particularly egregious in combat where you can't click on a hex sometimes because there's a piece of terrain or character model obstructing it, so you have to search for the magic pixel to make your move.
They did get the atmosphere down, and sometimes the cheapo art style lends itself well to the surreal / grisly horror aspect.

 

[luj1]

They did get the atmosphere down

Well I don't agree, it's overly dramatized and feels like a parody/lovecraft pop quiz. Referencing Innsmouth or going mad from seeing a dead horse does not make a game Lovecraftian, not to mention a cartoony style is poor match for gothic fiction period because one is serious, the other is not.

 

[luj1]

Clive Barkers Undying is probably more "Lovecraftian" than this will ever be (by just being atmospheric), it doesn't need namedropping or tentacles just skill

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

They did get the atmosphere down

Well I don't agree, it's overly dramatized and feels like a parody/lovecraft pop quiz. Referencing Innsmouth or going mad from seeing a dead horse does not make a game Lovecraftian, not to mention a cartoony style is poor match for gothic fiction period because one is serious, the other is not.

Whilst I will admit that some of the "scares" and sanity drop events are a little contrived and inconsistent, the game does manage to maintain a feeling of futility and hopelessness throughout it, which is consistent with Lovecraft's writings. Furthermore, there are a few sequences that are quite well done; the Miracle on top of Essex Hotel and The Theater of Bones are notable examples. I even appreciated the art direction for Blasted Street, even though the game play in that area is trash.

It does pander a lot to Lovecraft's fan base, yes; I did notice that they tried to shove pretty much every major story of his into the game, but Lovecraft games tend to do that (See Dark Corners of the Earth, which has Deep Ones, Kin of Cthulhu, Flying Polyps, The Great Race of Yith and Shoggoths all in the same game), and they are an indie company.

 

[GandGolf]

Game is now 75% off on Steam.

 

[Whisper]

There are few new decent RPGs on market so it is passable. But it is not good by itself.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

so is it playable on 1920x1080 yet?

 

[Roguey]

I now have a 1080 monitor and I can read text just fine? Don't see what the problem is.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Apparently they are working on a new game

 

[Child of Malkav]

Apparently they are working on a new game

Really? It's confirmed?
If so

Spoiler

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I now have a 1080 monitor and I can read text just fine? Don't see what the problem is.

What is your eyesight?

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I now have a 1080 monitor and I can read text just fine? Don't see what the problem is.

What is your eyesight?

Better than yours.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Apparently they are working on a new game

Really? It's confirmed?
If so

Spoiler

Yeah, it has something to do with cats. I remember reading a post about it. Sounds kinda dumb but hey, who knows

 

[Pope Amole II]

Maybe it's a game about the Howard Lovecraft's cat? You know, something like Rescue Rangers, only with eldritch monstrosities as the monsters of the week. I'm sure that would sell great.

 

[Ismaul]

Cats, the human catnip.

Cultic jumping on the catwagon is clearly all about the money. Can't blame them for wanting to eat, but to me that means they're done.

 

[V_K]

Eldratch mousetrosities.

 

[Roguey]

Goldfish memories itt https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...om-stygian-reign-of-the-old-ones-devs.133855/

I now have a 1080 monitor and I can read text just fine? Don't see what the problem is.

What is your eyesight?

Not quite 20/20 anymore but not bad enough to need glasses yet.

 

[Abu Antar]

I now have a 1080 monitor and I can read text just fine? Don't see what the problem is.

What is your eyesight?

I'm almost blind on one eye, and have 30% vision on one eye. I had no trouble with reading any text.

This isn't the first time I say in this thrrad that the text is perfectly fine.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I now have a 1080 monitor and I can read text just fine? Don't see what the problem is.

What is your eyesight?

I'm almost blind on one eye, and have 30% vision on one eye. I had no trouble with reading any text.

This isn't the first time I say in this thrrad that the text is perfectly fine.

Ok now I feel like an asshole

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Cathulhu

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Cathulhu

Gesundheit

 

[Beowulf]

I finished it today.

What a wasted potential. The beginning is obviously where they could put real effort, then it goes downhill.
It is still buggy (got two game breaking bugs on Blasted Street alone) and I wouldn't recommend picking it up unless with -75% discount.

The art is good, the atmosphere is nice, even if it is this pulp associated with Levecraft nowadays more than the spirit of his writing.
But it is janky, poorly designed and unfinished.

They clearly had nice ideas, but the execution and implementation is severely lacking. It could have been a much better and tighter experience if they had good manager/game designer that would trim some mechanics, that in consequence are barely visible in the game.

The game itself is not bad, but it leaves you in disappointment after you see through the early promises.

 

[Whisper]

It is unfinished. Cut. First 50% is nice, but the more you play, the worse it becomes.

 

[agris]

It's made by a team of artists who needed a technical person who understood how to build a game in unity. Honestly, as a first attempt (I think it was all of the team's first game), it's good. Hopefully they can reflect and acknowledge the deficiencies so their next game caries the spirit they put into Stygian, but with better technical execution.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG